Datasheet

4 Part I: Getting Started in Red Hat Linux
because of its reputation for solid performance, Red Hat is making it easier for business people
and home users to do their work (or just have fun).
New and enhanced graphical interfaces in Red Hat Linux 9 have made it possible for everyone
to get even complex features working quickly. In particular, improvements have been made to
graphical tools for:
• Sharing printers
• Configuring firewalls
• Setting up file sharing
With further improvements to existing graphical tools for adding applications, configuring
system services, setting up wired and wireless networks, tuning your sound and video, and
managing users and groups, you won't need your neighborhood techie standing over your
shoulder to get stuff done with Red Hat Linux.
Over 1,400 individual software packages (compared to just over 600 in Red Hat Linux 6.2) are
included in this latest release. These packages contain features that would cost you hundreds or
thousands of dollars to duplicate if you bought them as separate commercial products. These
features let you:
• Connect your computers to a LAN or the Internet.
• Create documents and publish your work on paper or on the Web.
• Work with multimedia content to manipulate images, play music files, view video, and
even burn your own CDs.
• Play games individually or over a network.
• Communicate over the Internet using a variety of Web tools for browsing, chatting,
transferring files, participating in newsgroups, and sending and receiving e-mail.
• Protect your computing resources by having Red Hat Linux act as a firewall and/or a
router to protect against intruders coming in through public networks.
• Configure a computer to act as a network server, such as a print server, Web server, file
server, mail server, news server, and a database server.
This is just a partial list of what you can do with Red Hat Linux. Using this book as your
guide, you will find that there are many more features built into Red Hat Linux as well.
Support for new video cards, printers, storage devices, and applications are being added every
day. Linux programmers around the world are no longer the only ones creating hardware
drivers. Every day more hardware vendors are creating their own drivers, so they can sell
products to the growing Linux market. New applications are being created to cover everything
from personal productivity tools to programs that access massive corporate databases.
Remember that old Pentium computer in your closet? Don't throw it away! Just because a new
release of Red Hat Linux is out doesn't mean that you need all new hardware for it to run.